The response time to antidepressants, such as Prozac, is around three weeks. How can we explain this? The adaptation mechanisms of the neurons to antidepressants has, until now, remained enigmatic. Research, published this week by the teams of Odile Kellermann (Inserm Unit 747 Cellules souches, Signalisation et Prions, Universit- Paris-Descartes) and of Jean-Marie Launay (Inserm […]Continue reading…

Research on a drug commonly prescribed to Alzheimer’s disease patients is helping neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, better understand perceptual learning in healthy adults. In a new study, to be published online Thursday, Sept. 16, in the journal Current Biology, researchers from UC Berkeley’s Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and School of Optometry found […]Continue reading…

Cardiologists and surgeons may soon have a new tool to improve outcomes for patients requiring pacemakers, bypass surgery or angioplasties. Research led by Dr. James White and his colleagues at The University of Western Ontario has led to a new imaging technique, which provides a single, 3D high-resolution image of the heart revealing both its […]Continue reading…

Risk factors for venous thromboembolism after total hip replacement (THR) surgery were identified in a new study published in the September 2010 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS). While the rate of thromboembolism has been significantly reduced through medication, understanding the risk factors could further reduce the likelihood of patients developing […]Continue reading…

Breakthrough study could transform drug, aging and fertility research UC Irvine researchers have deciphered how lowly fruit flies bred to rapidly develop and reproduce actually evolve over time. The findings, reported in the Sept. 15 online issue of Nature, contradict the long-held belief that sexual beings evolve the same way simpler organisms do and could […]Continue reading…

The ovary, which was created in a laboratory from cells donated by hospital patients, can mimic a real ovary by growing over the eggs and allowing them to mature. The researchers said the breakthrough could allow eggs to be taken from women before they were exposed to chemotherapy or radiation and then developed in the […]Continue reading…

A researcher has developed an artificial pancreas that she says could revolutionise the treatment of diabetes. The device, developed by Professor Joan Taylor from De Montfort University, Leicester, could even put an end to daily injections diabetics have to endure to regulate their glucose levels. Glucose levels are normally controlled by the hormone insulin, released […]Continue reading…

Scientists are launching a groundbreaking new project to investigate the benefits of broccoli in the fight against osteoarthritis. Initial laboratory research at University of East Anglia (UEA) has shown that a compound in broccoli called sulforaphane blocks the enzymes that cause joint destruction in osteo arthritis – the most common form of arthritis. Broccoli has […]Continue reading…

A major dementia charity has criticised reports which suggest that a change in diet could reverse dementia. According to the Alzheimer’s Society, “misleading” statements that suggest the use of dietary supplements can reverse the degenerative effects of dementia do nothing but provide vulnerable people with false hope. The charity insists that dementia is a progressive […]Continue reading…

All GPs and nurses should be given additional paediatric training under proposals by Prof Sir Ian Kennedy, the former chair of the Healthcare Commission, who led the report. Health care budgets should include a ring-fenced amount set aside for care for young people, he said, as he claimed that the requirements of adults are routinely […]Continue reading…

In a breakthrough compared to the discovery of penicillin, British scientists claimed to have developed a new gene targeting drug that they say could herald a new era in cancer treatment. The pill, which rapidly shrinks the most deadly of skin tumours and has produced “spectacular” trial results, is the first cancer drug to harness […]Continue reading…

Scientists have found how a single variant in a person’s genetic code can lead to the development of bowel cancer and say their work should help in creating new drugs to combat the disease. An international study led by researchers at Britain’s Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) found that if people have a single letter […]Continue reading…

Despite appearances, overall physical activity levels have remained constant for the last quarter of a century during which time weight levels have rocketed, Professor John Speakman said. He claimed that the average man burned 1380 calories per day in the 1980s and continues to do so today. The average woman has burned 950 calories a […]Continue reading…

Supplements prescribed to thousands of arthritis sufferers have no effect, according to researchers. Glucosamine and chondroitin are prescribed and purchased over the counter by patients to alleviate symptoms of osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, which occurs in the knee and hip. Around 8.5 million Britons are thought to suffer from the condition, which […]Continue reading…

Daily doses of raw or heat-treated ginger are effective for relieving muscle pain following strenuous exercise, according to research reported in The Journal of Pain, published by the American Pain Society. Though a favorite remedy of Chinese medicine practitioners for centuries, ginger has not been studied widely as a pain reliever. Some research, however, has […]Continue reading…